


In The Dark

by Necey



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 03:01:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4689854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Necey/pseuds/Necey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux promised himself this would be the last time he let Aradia drag him on one of her treasure hunts, especially if she planned on making a habit of bringing Eridan and Feferi along. There were so many other things he could be doing right now, but no, he had to be stuck in a slimy and dangerous temple running for his life. If he got out alive he would head straight home and never leave, and nothing, or more importantly no one, would convince him otherwise. He was pretty sure about that, mostly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In The Dark

The temple in front of you wasn't nearly as impressive as you had imagined. You knew it was going to be in disrepair, but this was more along the lines of nonexistent. Over there looked like a hint of stairs buried under plush moss, and that in front of you might have been a statue before it got covered in vines. It seems the jungle hadn't been kind over the centuries, hell it wasn't kind now. You were sweating bullets in the hot, muggy air, and it seemed like every insect from here to the arctic had bitten you already. At least you didn't have to walk through the thick undergrowth with all its hidden holes and dangers like your friends did. Being a psionic sure had it's perks.

"Why am I here again?" You asked as everyone settled down on the moss for a much-needed break. Your group was an odd one, two seadwellers and two lowbloods. As far as you could figure from their excited chattering, Eridan had found a treasure map, Aradia offered to lead him through the jungle, Feferi tagged along because you guess she's a sucker for punishment, and you got dragged along for god knows why.

Despite her excited mood, Feferi looked like she was about to keel over from the jungle heat, and Eridan only looked a bit better off. Of course nothing seemed to phase Aradia, her grin hadn't disappeared since you all started this wild featherbeast chase.

"We had to have a pack mule didn't we?" Eridan said once he caught his breath. You dumped the bags you'd been carrying with your psionics on top of him, your mood lifting considerably at his offended squawk. Aradia hit your arm as if to say 'be nice', even though she and Feferi were laughing.

"It's because you need to get out more! You can't just waste away in front of your computer for the rest of your life you know; you have to have some moonlight and troll interaction to be healthy." Aradia said. She's right of course, but you'd much rather have gotten that moonlight a lot closer to home in a much cooler place. 

"Yeah! Your friends would like to see your actual face sometimes instead of just yellow text." Feferi said, smile perking back up now that she'd had time to rest.

"Speak for yourself," Eridan grumbled.

"Aw, I didn't know you considered me a friend." You said sarcastically and you got the double bird for it. "Ehehe did you do the two thing on purpose?"

"Dammit." He glared at his hands before just tossing a bag at you, which you easily caught with your psionics. You’re not sure why he even bothered. Before you could retaliate, Feferi pulled him to his feet with a laugh. 

"Chum on guys, don't fight! I want to see this treasure you've been going on aboat and I can't do that if we stay out here bickering!" At the mention of the treasure, you swear Eridan's eyes lit up. Forgetting all about you, he grabbed his bag and headed deeper into the ruins, regaling Feferi about the supposed historical significance of whatever the hell you were looking for. That left you and Aradia to grab the remaining bags and once you caught up she jumped right into the conversation. You tuned them out, not really caring about whatever the third millennia dynasty had gotten up to. 

It took a bit of searching and digging, most of it done by you and Aradia since the seadwellers turned out to be shit at it, not to mention the fact Eridan wouldn't shut up long enough to be of much help, but you finally managed to find the entrance to the ruins themselves. The hole you'd dug looked like a gaping wound, or maybe the entrance to a tomb. It sure didn't look inviting.

Like always, though, Aradia jumped right in. She'd been doing this for a long time, and she knew better than anyone about what was safe and what wasn't, but how little she seemed to care about her own well-being gave you entirely too much anxiety. Since there were no screams, explosions, or other sounds of distress, the rest of you headed in after her. 

The place smelled like sweaty socks left out in the heat of the day and then buried for a sweep. Old and musty with that fresh dirt smell. You and the sea dwellers wrinkled your noses against it, but Aradia breathed it in deep.

"I love that smell, it means adventure." She grinned back at all of you before digging her flashlight out and leading the way deeper in.

"Is she always like this?" Feferi asked, following suit.

"No, she's calmer than usual," you quip, and you couldn't help but smile at the sound of Feferi's sweet laugh. It even made Eridan's snort of amusement less annoying.

Conversation died down as you went in farther, flashlight bouncing off the strange hieroglyphs carved into the damp walls. The air was nasty and muggy, the only sounds you could hear being your footsteps and the random 'plink' of water falling. It felt suffocating, almost forbidden.

Aradia and Eridan kept their voices low as they discussed which way to go, consulting a ragged, stained map they were both holding. You didn't consider yourself superstitious or easily scared, but damn, the way the echoes came back warped creeped you out a bit.

Feferi, bless her soul, didn't seem to notice the oppressive atmosphere. She stayed bright and bubbly, pointing out weird and unusual symbols to you. Maybe she was immune to the creepiness due to her horrorterror of a lusus. That wasn't a comforting thought.

You were too busy listening to Feferi talk and enjoying her voice to care about what the other two were doing, but the sounds of arguing brought your attention back to them.

"No, who taught you how to read a map? It's this way." Eridan said, pointing down a corridor. You’d entered a square room with a single door on every wall, each one decorated with different carvings. 

"I learned by trial and error, and I know you're wrong. When the third millennia dynasty built this temple, they used that symbol to signify life." Aradia pointed to the left wall where carvings of what looked like snakes with huge feathery wings surrounded the door.

"Oh, well no wonder you're so wrong. Unlike you, I had a proper education on this kinda thing, and that symbol signifies the end a the universe." He looked at the door as if it had insulted him and then headed the opposite direction, ignoring Aradia’s indignant ‘Hey!’.

While they were arguing, Feferi had wandered over to check out the snake door, and as amusing as it was to watch Aradia and Eridan struggle over a map, you'd much rather follow Feferi. The right thing to do would be to try and stop them from fighting of course, but if you were being honest with yourself you kind of wanted to see which one would win.

As you crossed in front of the door, you felt your foot sink down an inch. Before you realized you’d stepped on a switch, the floor plummeted, taking you and a screaming Feferi down with it. You started to panic before duh, you've got psionics, but the floor came to an abrupt halt before you could use them to slow your fall. There was no way to get your balance when your feet slammed into the stone tiles so you went tumbling back onto your ass with a painful thud. Your flashlight flew from your hand and busted as it hit the floor, plunging the room into darkness. From the sound of it, Feferi’s landing wasn’t any more graceful. 

Feferi’s flashlight seemed to be buried in the mass of tendrils she called hair, but there should still be a glow from above right? The sparks from your psionics danced in strange patterns along the walls as you lit up the room and to your surprise there was now a ceiling cutting you off from the other room. It’d be easy to blast through it, but there was no telling if Aradia or Eridan were up there in the way, and you’d rather not risk a repeat of what almost happened when you were six. 

“Ow, I fell on my bass,” Feferi said, finally extracting the flashlight from her hair. “Was that a booby trap?” She seemed alright, and the confused face she made as she studied the new ceiling was adorable. “... Sollux?”

Oh shit you were staring, you didn’t even catch when she turned to look at you. “Uh, yeah, probably.” You floated yourself to your feet and held out your hand to help her up, hoping the darkness would hide the faint blush you could feel dusting your cheeks. This situation was stupid and any other night you would be bitching about it, but things didn't look so bad when she took your hand without hesitation with that enthusiastic smile back on her face.

“That’s so cool! I flounder how it works?” She went back to studying the ceiling as you snorted in amusement.

“That one was a stretch and you know it.” You said. She just stuck her tongue out at you and swept the beam of light around the rest of the room. Good news, there was a way out, bad news, it took the form of stairs leading down.

“Think we should explore or try to get back to the others?” She asked.

“Unless you want me to blast the ceiling and potentially kill someone, that’s the only way out.” You pointed to the stairs. It was clear as crystal from the glint in her eyes that she’d rather go exploring than trying to find a way back to Aradia and Eridan. 

“Whale, we are here to find a sunken treasure right? Chum on, let's see if we can find it before they do.” She grabbed your arm and tugged you after her, grinning like a dork. If it were anyone else (except Aradia of course) you’d shock them for grabbing you, but you think you’ll let this slide. 

The stairs were steep and spiraled tightly as you went deeper and deeper underground. Several times you had to float both of you over stretches that had crumbled or wore away. You were starting to suspect the damn things didn’t have a bottom, but finally they lead you into a corridor that stretched endlessly in both directions. It was cold and damp down here, a stark contrast to the world above. Slimy water covered every surface and made walking more difficult than it needed to be. If there was treasure buried somewhere in these stupid ruins, you’d bet money it’d be around here and guarded by some big boss monster. 

“Which ray should we go? I don’t suppose it reely matters though...” Feferi shined the light in one direction and then the other before she seemed to pick one at random. 

These corridors proved to be just as creepy as the ones above ground. The carvings on the walls were more detailed and your footsteps echoed in a way that sounded like someone was following you. Even if something ended up attacking you, at least it was cool down here. 

“I could have stayed in my hive if I wanted to explore creepy ruins.” You grumble, wiping off a drop of water that fell on the back of your neck. At this rate, the both of you would be soaked by the time you got out of here.

“Exploring on the computer isn’t the same thing grumpy gills. Could a computer simulate this?”

You turned to look at her and instantly regretted it when she flicked nasty water at your face. Of course your mouth had to be open at the time. The water tasted horrible, worse than that one time you drank dirty laundry water on accident. She laughed at you as you sputtered and spat, but the damage was done. You’d be tasting that for the rest of the night.

“FF! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” 

“Ahaha, you should have seen your face! A bit of dirt and grime should do you good, build up your immune system.” She gave your back a pat, almost sending you to the ground with the force of it. Not that you’re that weak, it’s just the floors were so damn slippery. She thought it was funny. 

You glared at her and even growled a bit to show just how pissed you were, but the noise died in your throat when she slung her arm around your shoulders and dragged you down the hall with her. “Come on and lighten up Solfish. Not that your grumpy attitude isn’t adorabubble.”

Adorabubb- adorable you mean, she called you adorable. That should piss you off since of course you’re not adorable, but it was kind of hard to stay mad when you were stooped so low so she could keep her arm around your shoulders. The height difference was like something out of a cartoon. 

“I’m pretty sure my attitude is not what most people would call adorable. Why do you put up with me?” You’d never understand how you kept friends. Like yeah, sure, you’re awesome. No one would debate that except you because you’re not really that awesome you’re actually kind of a jackass. Which was the point, you’re a jackass to everyone so why the hell did they stick around?

“Well it’s a good thing that I’m not most people huh?” That was an understatement. She was one of the most incredible people you’ve ever met, but you didn’t say that aloud. Best to keep your mouth shut before you inserted your nasty slime covered foot into it. “And I put up with you because you’re my friend, idiot. For a smart guy, you shore can be dumb sometides.” She grins her huge shark teeth smile at you and hello chance for revenge. You shove her face away, making sure to rub in the slime on your hand. 

“Assshoal!” She kicks out at you but since she’s rubbing her face off with her shirt, she misses. You do not stare at her exposed midriff. Nope, not you. 

“You started it, don’t dish it out if you can’t take it.” While she’s cleaning her goggles off, you head further down the hallway. Mostly to keep moving, but if she kept tugging her shirt up like that you were going to embarrass yourself.

“Those are fighting words minnow.” You heard her finally start to follow you, but you didn't slow down. Jackass, remember? 

“Bring it, might make this trip more entertaining.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute, I might go easy on you.” You’re plunged into darkness as she turned her flashlight off with a sharp click.

“Did you forget I’m my own light source?” You let sparks curl around your horns, lighting the corridor in eerie shades of red and blue. Cute, you were not cute you’re a gangly, skinny, walking twig. “I’m starting to question your tastes. Seems like all the guys you hang out with are assholes. Oh sorry, asshoals.”

Silence greeted you and you just knew she had something planned, but you refused to turn and give her that satisfaction. After more than a minute, though, you did turn because you’re pretty sure you didn’t even hear her footsteps anymore. Ah, that’s because she wasn't behind you.

“FF?” No answer. She hadn’t just left, there was nowhere else to go. You backtracked for a way, looking for any sign of her or her footprints, but it was pretty much a lost cause. She had to have fell into a booby trap like the one that led you down here. Now if it were, say, Karkat that you got separated from, you’d start to worry, but this was Feferi. You would most likely be better off worrying about yourself instead of her. There wasn't anything you could do but continue and hope she made it back to the surface without you. 

So onward you went down the never-ending hallway of boredom. Why did you let yourself get dragged into this mess in the first place? You could be home right now working on that piece of code you’d been struggling with but no, you had to be in buttfuck nowhere trying to find your way out of some shitty decaying ruins. You had half a mind to just blast your way back up, but Aradia would likely have your horns over that.

Just as you were seriously contemplating ripping the place apart, you stepped on another button. There was a tense moment of anticipation before, nothing happened. 

“Well that’s bullshit,” you grumbled, continuing on your way. “Cheap ass temple doesn’t even w-” a sharp twang cut you off as a dart flew inches in front of your face and buried itself into the wall. Already you heard more creaking into place, ready to fire. For one irrational moment you actually started to run, that is before you remembered you’ve got psionics. All it took was to let your powers form a crackling barrier around you and the darts couldn’t touch you. Sollux one, temple zero.

This was too easy; you almost felt cheated. At least your games were actually challenging. Once you were past the darts, you let your shield down and wondered what was the point of rigging only that small stretch of hallway? A blast of pain from your shoulder gave you the answer; you weren’t past the darts after all. Another one almost grazed your thigh before you managed to get your shield back up. 

“Motherfucker,” you said as you yanked the dart out of your arm. It didn’t take seeing the hollow tip to tell you the thing was poisoned, you felt it spreading already. You cursed again with more venom and threw the dart down the hall. Great, splendid, you were going to die here like the loser you were. And to think you were just laughing about how this would be too easy. It was incredible how long you managed to survive being as stupid as you were.

You felt the poison make it to your head, resulting in a blinding headache and ringing in your ears. When you could actually think again, you found yourself on the floor with no memory of getting there. Fuck, your head was still pounding and it felt like the floor was spinning out from under you. After several dizzying tries, you finally managed to sit up.

It was embarrassing how long it took for you to realize your eyes were, in fact, open. It was just pitch black. You felt weak, off balance, and nauseous, but you realized just how fucked you were when you tried to get some light from your psionics. It felt like someone hit you right between the horns with a bat, the sudden pain doubling you over while tears sprung to your eyes. Several deep breaths later, you tried again just to make sure. It hurt no less the second time.

You had two options here: wait until someone found you or continue on at a severe disadvantage. It shouldn’t be a hard choice, you were next to useless without your powers and were sure to fall into some trap and die if the poison didn’t get you first, but... like hell you were going to wait around like some helpless wriggler. You’d never hear the end of it. That was just handing ammo over on a silver platter for Karkat or Eridan to torment you with.

With a groan, you groped around on the ground until you found the bag Aradia packed for you, praying that there was an extra flashlight or something you could use. Luck wasn’t on your side, but at least it didn’t toss you to the howlbeasts either. There was a lighter in the bag, though the glow the little flame put off was almost useless. You might actually be better wandering around in the dark.

Hauling yourself up to your feet was more of a hassle than you bargained for. The slime and water coating every surface made getting traction next to impossible, not to mention how the floor seemed to be rocking under your feet, but after several failed attempts you managed it. Somehow. Once you were upright though you regretted it. Vertigo hit hard enough that you started to wonder if you were going to hit the floor again, but thankfully it passed without you collapsing. So much for things not being challenging enough.

All your earlier bravado was gone as you stumbled down the corridor. Something as simple as a pit trap could kill you now, which would be such a shitty way to die. The lighter’s flame cast menacing shadows at every turn and combined with your headache already making it hard to see straight, you couldn't make out anything in the dark. You actually passed up a branching corridor before you registered what it was. Backtracking a bit, you peered down the hall to see if it was safe but it was like trying to see the bottom of a black hole.

A slight breeze made the flame from your lighter sputter but thank god it didn’t go out. Aradia must have sprung for the good kind, you just hope the fuel in it lasts until you get out of here. The breeze was a good sign though right? You definitely remember Aradia telling you about times something as small as a slight gust of wind ended up saving her life.

You headed down this new hallway, keeping a hand curled around your lighter so it wouldn’t sputter so much. Unfortunately, that also meant you were making everything darker but you’d take a faint glow over pitch black. More creepy hieroglyphs greeted you, but this hall seemed more damaged than the others you’d been down. Sections of the ceiling had collapsed, leaving piles of rocks scattered across the floor. As you went further, the sound of running water greeted you, but the source was nowhere in sight even after walking for several more minutes.

You liked this hallway, or well, you liked the fact that the damage done to it would most likely disable any booby traps. You did not like how the cracks in the ceiling gaped down at you; solid black holes with god knows what in them. After a while, you swore you heard something else moving around, but every time you stopped to listen you couldn’t hear it anymore. This place was making you paranoid, that or the poison was fucking with you. Considering you were cold, sweaty, and trembling, you’d bet on the poison.

You cursed out loud when you felt yourself step on another switch. Something in the walls started rumbling and the sound was ominous enough to get you to start running just in case. Thank god you did, just seconds after you moved blades started swinging from the walls. Some of them got stuck or didn’t come out at all, but most were working just fine. It was easy enough to outrun them even with how your head was spinning, and your lighter managed to stay lit against all odds. It looked like you were going to make it past this trap unscathed but of course fate had other plans. A large pile of rubble blocked the path in front of you.

“Shit shit shit!” you yelled as you tried to hurry over the slimy rocks without slipping or dropping your lighter. The pile shifted under your feet as you climbed and one rock you thought was steady broke free under your weight, sending you stumbling back the way you came.

The lighter flew out of your hand as you fumbled for balance, plunging the hallway into darkness. There was no warning before pain shot through your side from a blade you couldn’t see. When you hit the floor you stayed there, hoping the trap would stop soon and not kill you in the meantime. Fuck, your side felt like it was on fire, and without being able to see it you had no idea how bad it was. You really were useless weren’t you? Some genius you were, couldn’t even make it through an old shitty temple without almost dying.

The sounds of the trap faded into the distance and you felt safe enough to start feeling around for the lighter. It seemed to take an eternity before your fingers brushed against the cold metal. Once you could see again, you inspected your side, already preparing for the worst. It, wasn’t that bad actually. Yeah you were bleeding and it would probably need stitches or something, but it wasn’t that deep. You weren’t going to die from this, not unless it got infected by whatever nasty germs lived in this old ass temple. That was actually a very real possibility, you were already covered in slime and grime from crawling around on the floor. Never again, never, would you let Aradia drag you along on one of her adventures.

You patched yourself up with some bandages you found in the bag. Even though she got you into this mess, Aradia sure knew how to prepare. Getting back to your feet was easier this time around despite the vertigo since you had a pile of rocks to grab onto. You did not want to continue on knowing that the traps down this hall were still functional, but you didn’t want to backtrack either. In the end, you decided to keep going. After all, the sound of water flowing was mighty tempting. What you wouldn’t do to wash this gunk off.

As the sound of water got stronger, so did the feeling of being watched. You’d put it off as paranoia before but now... now you weren’t so sure. Every once in awhile you’d hear a small sound, like a rock falling or footsteps against the wet floor, but no matter how hard you listened you could never hear anything more than the initial noise.

The longer it went on the jumpier you got. You swore you were seeing shadows dancing on the walls, faces in the hieroglyphs moving, and hearing whispers with no source. At some level you knew it was most likely the poison fucking with you, but that didn’t stop it from fraying your nerves. Every new branching corridor you came across got treated with maximum caution as if there was something lurking just outside of your ring of light.

You almost ignored the soft thump from behind you, after all you were just going crazy right? Nothing was actually in these old ruins, right? Wrong. In the dim light, you could just barely make out the shape of some kind of large creature, but those glowing eyes were all too real. You’re not sure where it came from and you didn’t care, the only thing you were thinking about was it’s very large teeth and that predatory glint in it’s eyes.

Someone told you once that running away from a predator was often a very bad idea, something about them having the instinct to chase, but whoever told you that had to be an idiot because what the fuck else were you supposed to do when the thing roared and got ready to pounce?

You ran of course. As predicted the beast gave chase, but as odd as it was you had size on your side. The hallways were narrow in places where the ceiling had collapsed, and it was your ability to get past the rubble faster than it could that kept you from becoming lunch. You darted down hallway after hallway in hopes of confusing the thing, though it didn’t work well. The erratic path led you to an open room with multiple halls leading out of it, a few of which had a door. Not stopping to think, you made a beeline for one of those rooms and slammed the door closed with all your strength.

It latched, thank god, and stood steady as the creature threw its weight into it. The sound of claws against stone made your skin crawl, but the sound of flowing water muffled it to a tolerable level. Once you were sure the door would stay shut, you turned and took in the rest of the room. It was a lot smaller than you would have guessed, not much bigger than your block back home, and there were waterfalls coming out of both the side walls along with another door on the far wall. It was nice to know you weren’t trapped in here, maybe things were starting to look up for you.

You sat your lighter down on top of a little pile of rubble on the floor and headed for one of the waterfalls to take a long, much-needed shower. The cold water was like a slap to the face, making you gasp at the shock of it. It woke you up and cleared your head a bit, though it was also causing you to shiver. You knew it didn’t actually help much, but just getting all the slime and dirt off of you made you feel so much better. Yeah, things were looking up.

As you were removing the bandage on your side to clean the wound out, the room went dark. You cursed and headed to where you remembered putting the lighter, only realizing after a few steps just how much trouble you were in. You were walking through close to a foot of water. Kneeling down and feeling around for the lighter confirmed it, the room was flooding.

Of course it was, you’re not even sure why you thought you had gotten a break from the shitty joke you called your life. Finding the lighter proved to be near impossible, the cold water had your hands almost numb and your teeth were starting to chatter. After grabbing what had to be every fucking rock in the room, you finally found the lighter. Not a moment too soon, the water had already gotten up to your knees in the time you spent searching.

The glorious thing lit on the first try. You really were going to have to treat Aradia to something special for buying such quality equipment. Though, she’s the reason you were in this mess in the first place, does that cancel it out? Now wasn’t the time to think about that, you headed to the door you were fairly sure didn’t lead out to a monster and tried to open it. It didn’t open. Again, you’re not sure why you thought things would be easy. You walked, actually waded, over to the other door and tried that one, despite the threat of becoming lunch, but that one didn’t open either of course.

“Motherfucking piece of shit temple!” You yelled. Didn’t help, made you feel a little better though. You continued to curse and rant and yell as you tried to pry the door open. If anything, the yelling kept you focused on the task and not on the fact that you were freezing and going to drown soon. When the door proved to be a useless endeavor, you turned your sights to the walls. There were plenty of cracks and even some chunks missing, but no matter how hard you hit or clawed at the stone you couldn’t get anything to break away.

By that point, the water was almost over your head and it was getting difficult to keep the lighter lit. As you were forced to start treading water, which you were absolutely terrible at, you studied the sources of the waterfalls. The wall was carved to look like a snake head, the water coming out of its mouth. Just trying to cover it with your hand told you there was no way you were going to plug the holes, the pressure was too great.

You were running out of time and the only other option you had would either fail or backfire spectacularly. Not like you had much of a choice though, so with a deep breath through chattering teeth, you focused on the door and tried to blast it down with your powers.

Pain hit you like a truck, lancing through your pan and causing you to go under. The next few minutes were a blur of pain, panic, and struggling to stay above the water. When you finally managed to come back to yourself, you realized that you were out of time. There was just enough space left for you to get one last gulp of air before the room filled up completely.

You knew there was no hope left, but you still swam down and felt along the walls for one of the doors. It was pitch black, freezing, and there was no way you could even find the doors with how numb your hands were. Everything just felt like blocks of ice, how the hell were you supposed to find a stone door in a stone room?

It didn’t take long for your chest to start burning with the need for air, it’s not like you ever had any need to hold your breath for long periods of time before. That first gasp of icy water had you reeling, the pain causing your world to spin around and around. It felt like you were slammed against a brick wall and then tossed onto the floor to die like a fish out of water. Your whole body spasmed as you coughed and really? The light at the end of the tunnel was real? What a load of crap.

Something started beating on your back and it was only then you realized coughing meant not drowning. As if from a long distance, you could hear someone talking, saying your name, and as you started breathing more air than water you recognized the voice as Feferi’s.

“Holy carp are you okay?! I heard you shelling but I didn’t think it was searious! I thought you were overrayacting.” She was kneeling next to you, still thumping your back until your breathing started to stabilize. Her flashlight was illuminating the room in a soft glow, which was a good thing since you had no idea where your lighter went.

You were so, so glad to see her and all you wanted to do was lean into her side and maybe sleep for the next sweep. Once the threat of passing out was over, you sat up and rubbed your chest while nodding. “Yeah, 'm fine,” you croaked out. You were not fine. You were freezing, had a killer headache, and it felt like you had tried to breathe ice shards. “I think I’m all adventured out though.”

She relaxed a bit and laughed as she tugged you to your feet, “I’ll bet! Why didn’t you just blast your way out?”

You gestured to your shoulder, “Got hit by some kind of poisoned dart that fucked up my powers. Then I got cut up by wall swords and then chased down hallway after hallway by a monster which led me to almost drown in that room. So that’s my last hour, how’ve you been?”

“Oh wow, you had a lot more fun than I did. I just got chased by a big rock and almost fell into a spike pit. Buuuuut...” she grinned at you and with a flourish, she pulled out a golden snake statue from her bag. “I found the thing!”

You just stared at her for a long moment before you shook your head, “I’m uncomfortable with how much you sound like AA right now.”

She laughed and playfully hit your arm, “You know you like it! You’re attracted to dangerous women and having two around plays right into your duality thing. Now come on, let's go find the others.” You didn’t even have time to protest before she grabbed your arm and tugged you along after her. 

Wow, were you really that predictable? “You know not everything about me has to be twos. What if I wanted things to be in threes for a change, have you thought of that?”

“Name one thing that isn’t aboat twos with you.” She said, grinning back at you like she was sure you couldn't do it.

“I don’t have to have two cups when I get a drink, and I don’t own two of everything.” Not really, or at least not two of everything.

“Okay, but you still had to give two examples when I asked for one.” Her grin turned smug.

“... That doesn’t count.” Yeah, you were that predictable.

Your sullen attitude sure amused her, though, “Ahaha, if you say so. You don’t have to be embarrassed aboat it, I like your thing with twos!”

“Who the fuck said anything about being embarrassed? I’m just tired of everyone assuming I’m a one trick pony. And no by god, you don’t get to say I’m a two trick pony.” You said, cutting her off with the last bit when she went to reply. She pouted at that, which was adorable but on a more important note you totally called it.

“You swam into that one though, but okay okay, you are an unpredictable man of many mysteries. I see the error of my ways now Mr. Captor.” She solemnly nodded at you.

“Damn straight.” You nodded back, just as solemn. The two of you walked for a little longer in silence as if the whole thing was of the utmost seriousness, but she couldn’t keep up the act and started to giggle. You should probably be a little insulted, but you couldn’t help but smile at her.

Thankfully the way back to the surface was a hell of a lot easier than the way down. Aside from a pit full of snakes and a room where the walls tried to crush you, things were pretty nice. You weren’t sure if it was just your normal jackass tendencies or if you were more tired than you realized, but after a bit you kind of just stopped listening to whatever Feferi was talking about. She either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, keeping up a one-sided conversation all the way back to the entrance. You also weren’t sure just how long that took, you were too busy zoning out on the sound of her voice.

Being back in the oppressive heat of the jungle was a godsend, you didn’t think you’d ever thaw out. You took a seat on what used to be stairs and watched over the bags as Feferi went back in to find the other two. A few minutes later, you’re pretty sure it was only minutes, they all came trotting back out and you didn't even try to stop yourself from laughing.

Eridan had no eyebrows, and both he and Aradia were black from head to toe. Feferi had her hand over her nose to hide a grin and, you soon discovered, because they both smelled like burning hair and smoke.

You are not ashamed to admit you fell off the stairs from laughing so hard. Even Eridan beaning you over the head with his bag didn’t phase you. The more you laughed the more pissed Eridan looked which made you laugh even harder. It’s possible you were a bit hysterical from the poison or just the sheer exhaustion of the night.

“Oh my god shut up! At least I didn’t almost die in there like some helpless little wriggler.” He hissed at you, face flushed in embarrassment. Or it could just be burnt. The thought set you off laughing again.

Luckily for everyone involved, Aradia pulled Eridan back and handed him off to Feferi before coming back and kneeling next to you. God she stank, but she was warm and familiar and easily managed to calm you down from your hysterics just by leaning against you and rubbing your back.

Once you could breathe again without it devolving into giggles, you asked Aradia, “What happened to you? Are you okay?”

Aradia laughed, “We’re both fine, we just managed to find the hallways filled with flamethrowers. Are you okay? Feferi said you almost drowned.”

“I’m fine, enough. Did get poisoned though so that might be something we need to get checked out here soon.” You shrugged, not thinking it was that big of a deal. Then again, you were still shivering even in the heat of the jungle.

She felt your forehead and grimaced, “Yeah, we’re about to head back. I’m really glad Feferi found the statue though!” Both of you looked across the little clearing where Eridan was holding the statue and talking a mile a minute about it while Feferi beamed and bounced up and down. She was too cute for words. Whatever Eridan was saying was no doubt boring as shit, but she hung on his every word and even clapped her hands together at important points in his rant. Hell, you hated to admit it, but even he was kind of cute as he babbled on and on. It was rare that you ever saw him with an expression other than low-key disapproval of the world.

You jumped a bit when you turned back to Aradia and found her staring at you with a knowing smile. That smile was never, never good news for you. “... what?”

She shrugged and stood up, reaching down to give you a hand, “Nothing really, just thinking we’re going to have to do this again sometime.”

“Yeah!” Feferi said, bouncing over to the two of you while dragging Eridan along, “This was soooo much fun! There're a lot of old abandoned ruins on the sea cliffs near my hive, we could go exploring in those sometime.”

That set all three of them off talking about where to go explore next and what they might find. You hung well back and let them have their fun, after all you doubted your opinion mattered much considering how you were dragged into this mess in the first place. While you were tuning them out, your mind wandered back to Aradia’s smile and what it might have meant.

Unfortunately, walking back proved to be too much for you to handle, but instead of feeling ashamed at that you quite enjoyed it since it meant getting a piggyback ride from Feferi. You caught Eridan glaring daggers at you behind the girl’s backs and without thinking you stuck your tongue out at him and buried your face in Feferi’s hair to piss him off more. Despite being exhausted and aching everywhere, you felt almost content. Feferi smelled nice, Aradia’s warm hand was rubbing your back, and you could still feel Eridan’s gaze on you. Maybe you would go out exploring with them again, and maybe you were starting to understand what that smile was about after all.


End file.
